I need a new wheel for my bike. I do not know how to tell what the rim size is. My tire size is 700x23c. It is my back wheel. I tried to have it trued which started breaking the rim. Rim finally broke all the way and is unusable now. I have asked local bicycle shops all they want to do is quote price of rim. I know I can find a cheaper wheel online if I knew what to look for. Any help is appreciated.

It's often cheaper to buy a whole wheel than to buy just the rim, unless you are an experienced wheel builder. Plus, many rims that are sold as just rims are high end, as there isn't much of a market for people who want to assemble their own wheel (or pay someone to do so) and cheap out on parts at the same time.
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KibbeeNov 16 '12 at 17:03

ok first of all how is it cheaper to buy whole wheel. I finally found the answer. it is a 700c rim that I need. Found it 50.00us dollars brand new. So I have to change the cassette out that is actually relatively easy to do. Since there is nothing wrong with my tire or inertube how is that more expensive than buying wheel with cassette, inertube and tire.
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BarryNov 16 '12 at 17:27

You are confused. The rim is the outer part of the wheel. The wheel is the hub, spokes, and rim.
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Ritch MeltonNov 16 '12 at 17:30

1

ok fair enough the wheel is actually what I am buying. but does not include the cassette. I will change that out myself
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BarryNov 16 '12 at 17:31

The bike guy I go to explained quite simply why a whole wheel is often cheaper than the rim. It is purely down to the labour it takes to rebuild a wheel so it runs true. Factories producing wheels have loads of labour-saving kit, plus they're usually based in low-wage economies. The effect of this is that even if you do want to build your own, there's just no demand for rim-only, except at the top end, and where there's no demand, the price for those that want to will be high.
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user7459Jul 12 '13 at 18:38